The agreement, which expires on December 31, 2021, applies to approximately 4,100 workers represented by the YEU and the Public Service Alliance of Canada. It provides an annual salary increase (5.25 percent, total, over the duration of the agreement, or $16.5 million) and higher work and weekend bonuses. Airport nurses and firefighters will benefit from additional market adaptation. Some $46,000 is also expected to be spent on community aid and remote bonuses. The three-year contract has an expiry date of December 31, 2021. Steve Geick, President of the Yukon Employees Union, will speak at a press conference in Whitehorse on December 18, 2018. According to Geick, a new collective agreement between the Yukon government and the Yukon Workers` Union will allow Yukon workers to take up to 48 hours of paid leave if they experience workplace trauma. (Crystal Schick/Yukon News file) The agreement provides for pay increases totalling 5.25 per cent over three years, including some retroactive pay, as well as increases in salary categories, weekend bonuses and work bonuses for hours worked between 4 .m and 8 .m. The three-year collective agreement, which came into force on July 15, is the culmination of nine months of negotiations, Geick said. Another aspect of the collective agreement, which is not mentioned in the government`s press release, is a common learning program, said Geick, who needed three rounds of negotiations to establish it. Earlier this year, the experienced mediator, Vince Ready, was summoned in support and an interim agreement was reached in June. Yukon hospitals work with two rate units: the employees covered by the agreement, about 4,100 in total, are represented by the Public Utilities Alliance of Canada and the YEU. A new collective agreement signed by the territory`s government and its union includes a first for Canada, says the president of the Yukon Employees Union (YEU).
The Yukon government and its union have ratified a new collective agreement in force starting Monday. “Many hours of hard work have been done by teams on both sides to secure this collective agreement.” As with other unions, Geick said the results of the votes will not be published, in addition to the fact that voting members voted in favour of the agreement. The agreement also allows “a worker who experiences a traumatic incident in the context of work to obtain leave without loss of pay for the remainder of the planned working day,” says a press release from the territory`s government. Incident leave regulations allow employees to have up to 48 hours of paid leave when they experience workplace trauma, Geick said. To promote thoughtful and respectful conversations, first names and surnames will appear at each filing at CBC/Radio-Canada`s online communities (except in child and youth-focused communities). Pseudonyms are no longer allowed. Geick said he was also pleased that there had been no changes to severance pay, a clear instruction from members. Lisa Wykes, who is temporarily a public service commissioner, said the process was cooperative. Geick generally called the negotiations “very respectful.” A change in trauma management is a first for the country, YEU president said before Monday, the two sides were bound by the previous contract, which expired on December 31, 2018. “To my knowledge and to what I`ve been told, it`s the first language like this in the whole country,” he said of the addition. “It will allow people to take that time without having to worry about burning their own vacation, seeing their doctor, going through the process and figuring out what they need,” he said.
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